Chapter 28

The moment Tian Mi plunged into the water, a bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped her. Fortunately, within just a few seconds, her body adjusted to the frigid temperature of the seawater.

Not daring to waste any time, she kicked her legs and swiftly moved several meters ahead, her mind racing with calculations. 

Based on the time, Lou Luhui had been underwater for about a minute. With his physical strength, he should still be conscious. The real danger lay in hypothermia, lack of oxygen, and the panic induced by the failure of the rescue rope. Even the strongest soldier could break down if they couldn’t find a way out of such a desperate situation…

Just thinking about the scene from the book, where Lou Luhui was trapped in despair, suffocating in terror, and lost to the cold depths, made Tian Mi’s chest tighten in agony.

Ignoring the tears spilling from her eyes, she forced them open as wide as she could, searching the murky water for that familiar figure.

As the seconds ticked by, Tian Mi, completely unaware of Lou Luhui’s exact location, resorted to the most basic method—searching in every direction.

Nothing!

There was nothing!

How could there be nothing?

Just as despair began to overtake her and she started to fear that Lou Luhui might have already sunk, a faint, shadowy figure appeared in the distance.

The sudden rush of hope made Tian Mi’s heart clench tightly, and before she could even think, her body reacted, propelling her toward the figure.

Meanwhile, not long after entering the water, Lou Luhui realized that the rope had snapped.

He could have turned back, but the child was struggling just a few meters away. As a soldier, sworn to protect his country and its people, his principles wouldn’t allow him to abandon the child.

So, after only a moment of hesitation, he swam toward the boy.

Living on an island, even though he wasn’t in the navy, Lou Luhui had regularly trained himself in breath control and swimming. He never missed his annual winter swim.

According to his calculations, he should have been able to find his way back.

However, rescues are fraught with unknown dangers. Lou Luhui wasn’t a professional rescuer, and he had underestimated the sheer force of a person’s survival instincts. The boy, just 10 years old, lost all sense of reason as soon as he grabbed onto his lifeline, exerting a strength far beyond what anyone would expect.

After a fierce struggle to subdue the boy, Lou Luhui felt a sharp, constricting pain in his chest.

The symptoms of hypothermia began to hit Lou Luhui one after another, and the situation was grim.

To make matters worse, due to the earlier struggle, he had completely lost track of where the ice hole was. With no escape route in sight, combined with suffocation and the rapid stiffening of his limbs, his chances of survival plummeted.

Was he afraid? Of course, he was.

But beyond the fear, there was a deep sense of reluctance—reluctance to leave behind his family and friends, and especially the sweet, delicate girl he cared for. He had often fantasized about spending his life with her.

So, he couldn’t give up. Clinging to his last breath, he raised his hand and groped along the ice surface, hoping against hope to find the exit.

But fortune wasn’t on his side.

Soon, Lou Luhui’s mind grew increasingly sluggish, and it felt as though all the blood in his body had frozen. Even the suffocating tightness in his chest began to fade…

Just when he was about to lose all hope, a familiar figure sliced through the water, rapidly approaching him.

Before he could even wonder if this was his final hallucination before death, he felt warmth envelop him.

After that, his hazy and frozen mind could barely retain any memories, only a faint recollection of being pulled out of the icy, lifeless water by the girl in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

Cough, cough, cough…

“They’re up! They’re up!”

“They really made it!”

“Hurry! Save them! Get their coats off!”

“No, rub their bodies to warm them up!”

As soon as they emerged from the water, everyone—whether it was Zhou Jianshen, who had been preparing to dive with the safety rope, the soldiers who were desperately chipping away at the ice trying to break open more holes, or the women who had collapsed onto the ice in despair—rushed forward in excitement.

Zhou Jianshen and a few soldiers were the fastest to react, pulling the purple-faced, violently coughing Lou Luhui, who was lying on the ice, out of the water.

As they pulled him up, everyone noticed how heavy he felt. Only after he was fully out did they realize that Lou Luhui had been gripping the child’s collar the entire time. Even now, though safe, he hadn’t let go, as if it had become an unshakable obsession.

The child’s face was also purple, and he had lost consciousness. The mood of the crowd grew heavy at the sight, but they didn’t waste a second, quickly stripping off the child’s wet outerwear and rushing to provide first aid.

Meanwhile, the rest split into three groups: one remained with Lou Luhui, while the others focused on pulling Tian Mi out of the water.

At this point, Lou Luhui was already half-conscious.

The low temperature and lack of oxygen dulled Lou Luhui’s reactions and senses. He was unaware that his comrades were desperately trying to warm him up, nor did he know that a woman was holding him, sobbing uncontrollably. All he could do was instinctively strain to look back, silently repeating “Tian Tian… cough, cough… Tian Tian…”

At that moment, Tian Mi had also climbed up with the help of her brother-in-law and the soldiers.

As soon as she reached the shore, her previously warm body immediately lost heat, causing her to shiver and her teeth to chatter.

But because she was so concerned about Lou Luhui’s condition, she couldn’t pay attention to anything else. She quickly wrapped herself tightly in the large coat someone had handed her, completely oblivious to the respectful gazes of the soldiers around her.

Tian Mi hurried to Lou Luhui’s side, squatted down, and embraced him, her voice choked with tears as she whispered, “I’m here, it’s okay… it’s okay now, we’re all fine…”

As she spoke, she began to cry herself.

Only Tian Mi understood that these words were also a form of comfort for herself.

She had truly pulled him back from the brink of death. How wonderful… wuwuwu… it’s really wonderful.

The two of them, in their disheveled state, embraced affectionately, and no one cared about the inappropriateness of the display in front of so many people. It was a release of emotions after escaping death, and everyone felt like shouting and laughing in the most unrestrained way.

Everyone was safe; it was truly wonderful!

Tian Yu stumbled onto her sister’s back, hugging her and crying loudly, pounding her sister’s back a few times as she wailed, “You crazy girl… do you want to die? You scared me to death… wuwuwu… you scared me to death…”

Tian Mi was already crying uncontrollably, and hearing her sister’s complaints, which were really filled with concern, made her tears flow even more.

The onlookers were also moved to tears, with some young soldiers wiping their eyes with their sleeves.

However, Chen Gang, who could maintain control of the situation, quickly arranged for everyone: “… Take them home. Go home and warm up. Xiao Liu, go to the hospital and ask a doctor to come check on them at home…”

Once everything was arranged, Chen Gang bent down to help his wife up, wiping her tears while soothingly saying, “Xiao Yu, stop crying. Everyone is fine. You should head back; Er Mei and Lao Lou need hot water, clean clothes, and ginger tea… You need to pull yourself together…”

“Right! Right! Right! Look at me… I… I need to hurry home.” At her husband’s reminder, Tian Yu quickly regained her focus, raised her frostbitten hands, and vigorously rubbed her cheeks before turning to run home. Chen Gang watched nervously, fearing she might slip and fall.

After everyone had left, Chen Gang’s face darkened, filled with a violent rage, as he quickly made his way to the brigade commander’s office.

Some family members were simply out of touch!

Most of the military families in the family area were still unaware of what had happened.

When a group of soldiers rushed in carrying a person, everyone was startled and followed behind, all asking what was going on.

The person who was questioned the most was Tian Yu.

But at that moment, she didn’t have time to respond; she focused on opening the door to let a few people inside.

The space in the house was limited, so most of the soldiers stayed outside. Only Zhou Jianshe and Lou Luhui’s aide carried him inside.

Once they were inside, they realized, in their panic, that they had brought Lou Luhui to the wrong place.

Clearly, taking him to the bachelor dormitory now was unrealistic, especially with the man lying on a girl’s bed, even unconscious, still holding onto the girl’s hand tightly, unwilling to let go for even a moment.

The group exchanged glances, unsure of what to do.

Letting him stay in Tian Mi’s room seemed to be the only option. Although they hadn’t registered their marriage yet, they had filed a marriage report, so it counted as a step toward being a couple… 

So, what should they do?

Just as they were debating back and forth without a clear plan, a weak female voice spoke up, “We’re all family. The parents are willing, the organization has approved, so… should we… should we let him lie down and warm up a bit before deciding?”

By the end, she seemed to realize that her suggestion was somewhat inappropriate, her voice barely audible like a mosquito.

Only then did Tian Yu notice that a stranger woman had entered the house.

The woman looked a few years older than her, her hair disheveled, eyes red and swollen, yet still quite beautiful.

“Excuse me… who is this comrade?” 

Hearing this, the woman who had wanted nothing more than to find a hole to hide in immediately took Tian Yu’s hand warmly and smiled brightly, “Qingjia^[1]Relatives by marriage. So this could be something like the older sister in our in-law’s family. Jiejie, hello! I’m that youngster Lou Luhui’s mother!” 

“……”